
It’s a novel idea, but Hallmark should really consider a line of greeting cards devoted to the impending apocalypse. No one knows how it will happen or when it will hit, but the apocalypse is an experience that is both deeply personal and something shared with others.
While you might not find “Apocalypse Greetings” nestled between “For a Special Nephew” or “Congratulations!” cards at your local Walgreen’s or Rite Aid, but you can find several other creative end-of-the-world musings from the minds of 32 authors in the anthology, Enter the Apocalypse, edited by Tom Gondolfi. I’m honored to have had my story, “Death, Inc.”, included alongside other warped tales from some extremely talented writers. (And I’m not blowing smoke up anyone’s ass! These folks are the genuine article!)
One such tale is Katrina Nicholson’s complex, character-driven account of the end of days by way of bioterrorism. She contributed the following guest post, musing on the multiple avenues the apocalypse can take by circling back to a favorite childhood reading staple: Choose Your Own Adventure! Katrina totally gets the idea of the apocalypse being something very personal … and finds the fun in it, too!
Katrina Nicholson has a degree in history, a diploma in writing for film and television, and a horrifying obsession with infectious diseases. Her story for Enter the Apocalypse is called “Nightmare Factory.” She lives in Nova Scotia, but you can visit her online at www.katrinanicholson.com.
Robert MacLeod, his wide, staring eyes filled with red blood, lay on his back in the entryway where he’d died. Sheets of mottled purple-black skin had sloughed off into the congealing pools of tar-like blood on the stone floor.
Choose Your Own Apocalypse
By Katrina Nicholson
If books, TV, movies, and the short stories from Enter the Apocalypse are to be believed, the world is constantly hovering on the brink of disaster. But how will it all come about? How do we want it to come about? I mean, there are so many options: nuclear war, pandemic, alien invasion, asteroid impacts… how will we ever choose? Have no fear. This handy guide will help you narrow down your options.
PANDEMIC DISEASE
NUCLEAR WAR
A computer glitch. An insane dictator gets his/her hands on the launch codes. Somebody calls somebody else’s bluff in the great game of Mutually Assured Destruction. However it happens, craters and mushroom clouds abound!
ZOMBIES!
ALIEN INVASION
ASTEROID IMPACT
SUPERVOLCANO ERUPTION
CLIMATE CHANGE
GENETIC ENGINEERING WHOOPSIE
ROBOT OVERLORD
So, there you have it. Submit your votes by buying a copy of the anthology and having nightmares about your favorite story. Happy mass extinction!
To check out more from the minds behind Enter the Apocalypse, visit Tanstaafl Press on Facebook for updates on upcoming releases and more from emerging authors.